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A CURIOUS LANDLORD 



A Curious Landlord 


BY 


PEN 


PENNY 




\ 


TORONTO LONDON 

DREXEL BIDDLE, PUBLISHER 

NEW YORK PHILADELPHIA SAN FRANCISCO 

67 Fifth Avenue 228 South Fourth St. 327-331 Sansome St. 


1900 


63944 

By a. 




Library af 

Two Copies Received 

JUN 21 1900 

CopyrifHt Mtiy 

1^(1^ Oo 
SECOND copy. 

Otliv^fM to 

luKm I 

Copyright, 1900 
J. DR^XKIv BIDDIrK 


PRESS OF 


PRBXEL BIDDLE, PHILADELPHIA 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


I. 



I ELL, of all tiresome things, house- 
hunting is about the most so,'' 
exclaimed Mrs. Morgan, as she 
sank into a deep-cushioned armchair and 
commenced pulling off her long suede 
gloves. 

Her husband looked up with a smile as 
she entered. He was trying to put on 
a wheel that had come off a new toy, 
and their little four-year-old son stood so 
eagerly watching, to see if it could be 
mended, that he had not heard his mother 
enter. But at the sound of her voice he 
ran to kiss her and ask if she had brought 
the candy she promised. 



A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


*‘No, dear, I was too late. I will get 
you some to-morrow. I came very near 
missing the five-o’clock train/’ she said, 
turning to her husband. 

“Yes, I was commencing to wonder 
what kept you,” he replied. “ I only wish 
business had not made it impossible for 
me to go with you. I fear you feel very 
tired. I wish I had not asked Newton to 
dine.” 

“Oh! that makes no difference,” she 
answered. “I never regard Ned as com- 
pany; besides, the ride in the train has 
quite rested me.” 

“There, your wheel is fast at last,” Mr. 
Morgan said, handing the toy to the child, 
and Master Harry ran off to show the new 
cart to his nurse. 

“ Well, did you succeed in finding a 
house in B ?” 

“Yes, I found one ; but I did not like it 
6 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


half as well as another I saw and which 
the landlord — or rather his agent — refused 
to rent to me” 

“ Refused to rent to you !” echoed her 
husband, in surprise. And then, with a 
merry twinkle in his eyes, he commenced 
teasing her about not looking sufficiently 
well-dressed. “You know I told you when 
that suit came home the other day I did 
not like it. I guess the old codger thought 
you would not be prompt pay, and that 
was the reason he refused.’' Then he 
added, more seriously, “ Why did you not 
tell him you could give him reference or 
pay six months’ rent in advance, as long 
as he did not know you? That would 
have been better than renting a house you 
did not like as well.” 

She laughed merrily. 

“ Oh ! the agent said he knew who you 
were very well. He knew your check 
7 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


would be good for fifty thousand dollars, 
and it was just that that stood in the way. 
He told me that the owner never rented 
his houses to the wealthy. To satisfy me, 
he telephoned to the owner, who chanced 
not to be at his office to-day, but the an- 
swer came back, ‘ No ! he regretted not to 
oblige me, but he could not break through 
his rules.' " 

Mr. Morgan gave a long whistle. 

Excuse me, but is the man sane ?" 

The French clock on the mantel chimed 
half-past six, and almost at the same mo- 
ment the door-bell rang. 

Oh ! I guess that is Ned Newton. He 
lived for a short time in B , I do won- 

der if he has ever met that curious land- 
lord ?" 

Just then the library door opened, and 
the butler announced, ‘‘Mr. Newton." 

Being an intimate friend he was at once 
s 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


ushered into the library, where Mr. and 
Mrs. Morgan were sitting. After the first 
greetings were exchanged, Mr. Newton 
exclaimed : 

'‘I will feel lost when you people move 
to B 

“We, also, will feel lost without our 
friends,'' replied Mrs. Morgan, “that is, 
if they desert us. But I do not think 

B is at such a great distance that they 

need do that. I should regret it very 
much if we were going far away." 

“Ned," exclaimed Mr. Morgan, “my 
wife met a mild kind of lunatic among 

the property owners at B . Do you 

know him ?" 

“ I do not think I number any lunatics 
among my acquaintances. What is his 
name ?" 

“ Mr. Takall," replied Mrs. Morgan. But 
I did not meet him ; I only saw his agent." 


9 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


“Yes, I know him,’' said Newton, laugh- 
ing. “He is a curious landlord. He is 
known by that title and also as the ‘ angel 

of B His name does not suit him ; 

he is the last man in the world who would 
take alL And,” continued Newton, more 
seriously, “I assure you if all men had as 
sane ideas of justice and humanity there 
would be less misery in the world. Just 

wait until you get settled in B , and I 

will enjoy coming down some day and 
taking you both to spend the evening with 
him. He never makes social calls except 
on a few intimate friends, whom he visits 
of a Sunday, for he is subject to rheuma- 
tism, and, therefore, thinks it best to avoid 
the night air; but he is very hospitable, 
and gives a hearty welcome to all who call 
upon him. He is certainly a most original 
character and an excellent talker.” 


lO 


II. 


A FULL month had passed since the fore- 
going conversation, and the Morgan family 
were comfortably settled in their new home 
at B . 

^‘Ned Newton is coming down to dine 
to-night,” said Mr. Morgan, looking up 
from a letter he had just received. “He 
says : Hf agreeable to you, we will spend 
the evening at Mr. TakalFs.’ He is anx- 
ious for us to meet the ‘ curious landlord,' 
the owner, he says, of no less than three 
hundred houses.” 

“ I must confess I am anxious to meet 
him myself,” said Mr. Morgan, with a 
smile ; “ but I still have my doubts regard- 
ing his sanity. However, some say we 
are all insane, more or less, on one sub- 
ject or another, and he must be insane on 


I 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


the subject of renting his houses to the 
impecunious.'^ 

The evening was delightful, so after a 
most delicious dinner, the three friends 
started to make the promised visit. On 
the way Newton pointed out a number of 
beautiful houses, of different sizes, owned 
by Mr. Takall. 

Arriving at his home, which was a per- 
fect palace in its elegance and beauty of 
design, and surrounded by magnificent 
grounds, they were ushered by the portly 
butler who answered the door into a luxuri- 
ously appointed drawing-room on the left- 
hand side of the spacious hall. The furni- 
ture, hangings, and pictures of this room 
were faultless. Everything was not only 
selected with the best of taste, but arranged 
and hung to the best advantage. A glow- 
ing wood-fire added to the charm of the 
room. Stretched in front of it, on a tiger- 


12 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


skin, was a large greyhound. His thin 
neck, graceful head, and mild expression 
contrasted in a striking way with the thick 
neck, broad head, glaring eyes, and cruel- 
looking teeth of the stuffed head of the 
tiger rug. 

In a few moments the host entered and 
greeted his guests in a most cordial man- 
ner. He was of medium height and build, 
with a well-shaped head, well set on a 
symmetrical body. Without being hand- 
some, he had a pleasing face. His fore- 
head was broad and his brows straight, 
resembling in a marked degree the fore- 
heads and brows of some of our noted 
generals. His eyes, which were gray, 
were decidedly striking-looking. They 
seemed to look one through and through. 
They were eyes that talked, eyes that could 
express kindness, sympathy, and tender- 
ness, could sparkle with merriment; but 
13 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


one realized they were also capable of 
flashing with the fire of righteous indigna- 
tion. His nose had the firm, chiselled look 
of a statue. His mouth was shaded by a 
heavy gray mustache, and the broad chin 
harmonized well with his other features. 
A voice that was rather deep, but musical, 
would have inspired trust even in a cynic. 
When he stopped speaking one felt anx- 
ious for him to speak again. 

After talking for a while on indifferent 
topics, at least indifferent as far as Mr. 
Takall’s character as landlord was con- 
cerned, Mrs. Morgan said : 

“ I think I am very forgiving, Mr. 
Takall, to call upon you to-night, after 
your being so unkind as to refuse to ac- 
cept me as one of your tenants.’^ 

“ Perhaps, if I had seen you, you might 
have induced me to break through my 
rules,’' he replied, with a smile. 


14 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


Mrs. Morgan was a very pretty woman. 

“Is it true/' asked Mr. Morgan, “that 
you only rent your houses to strugglers ?" 

“ No," he answered ; “but I never rent 
to persons who are known to be wealthy. 
I rent to those of moderate means and 
to those of uncertain incomes, as doc- 
tors, lawyers, artists, teachers, and per- 
sons who are not their own masters, but 
are holding positions. Only God knows 
how many strugglers there are among 
them. A year when there is little illness 
is a bad one for the doctors, and especially 
for those who have not made a name. A 
lawyer who is not noted may not always 
have a sufficient number of clients to net 
him a living, or if he has they may be too 
impecunious to pay him promptly. A few 
months' idleness, or some unlooked-for ex- 
pense, such as a serious illness or accident, 
may so encroach upon a slender income as 
15 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


to make it impossible for one to pay rent 
promptly or meet their other obligations. 

“ I am not one who believes that people 
who don't pay their debts promptly are 
able but unwilling to do so, and require to 
be forced by law. I believe that not only 
ninety-nine out of every hundred, but 
nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every 
thousand that don’t pay cannot pay. And 
I think if our Almighty Father had made 
it possible for persons when unable to buy 
food to be nourished by the air they 
breathed, that few indeed would go into 
debt for the pleasure of eating. I have 
heard people say, ‘ Oh ! I would sooner 
live on a crust than go into debt, or ask 
aid.’ I say let them try it, and see how 
they feel. 

‘‘ Everyone with any intellect knows that 
good food, and sufficient of it, is necessary 
to keep one in health. Proper shelter is 

i6 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


necessary also. All my houses, from the 
humblest to the best, are in perfect repair 
— heating and plumbing all that can be de- 
sired. If anything gets out of order it is 
at once attended to, and all are treated 
alike, those who are prompt pay and those 
who are behindhand receive the same 
attention. Why, I have known landlords 
refuse to make the most necessary repairs 
where people were in arrears, and then, 
after imposing upon them in every way, 
sell them out. 

“ If I had one of my leases here I would 
show it to you. Those who sign it agree 
to pay me promptly the first of each 
month, if possible. I always rent from 
the first of the month ; it saves trouble. I 
agree in the lease to keep the house they 
rent in thorough order, and not to distress 
or sell them out for arrears of rent, and 
not to turn them out.’’ 

3 17 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


“Well!” exclaimed Mr. Morgan, “I 
would like to know how much you lose 
each year? Remember all are not as 
fortunate in this world's goods as you are, 
and even if willing could not afford to be 
as philanthropic." 

A stern look came into the gray eyes 
as they were turned on Mr. Morgan, and 
he replied: 

“ If you have ever been so cruel as to 
sell anyone out, regret it, but do not try 
to excuse it, even if you were poor at the 
time and in need of money. But," he 
said, as he regarded Mr. Morgan's kindly 
face, “ I do not believe you ever sold any- 
one out." 

“I never did," answered Mr. Morgan, 
with a smile. “ I do not believe I could 
bring such distress upon anyone, unless, 
perhaps, I was starving ; and I think, even 
then, at the last moment, I would relent. 

iS 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


But I have heard other property owners 
say they were obliged sometimes, much 
as they regretted it, to have a constable’s 
sale, in order not to lose their rent.” 

‘^They should have been willing to lose 
it, if that was the only way of collecting 
it,” replied Mr. Takall. *‘In every busi- 
ness, and in all the professions, one must 
take the risk of losing as well as the 
chance of gaining. Why not, then, in 
renting houses ? It might not be possible 
for all to be willing to wait indefinitely, 
as all could not afford it ; but they could 
give the tenant notice to leave. 

“I consider a constable’s sale one of 
the greatest outrages of a civilized, let 
alone a christianized, community. Look 
at the punishment for arson ! Would any- 
thing excuse it? Even if the man owed 
the perpetrator of the deed thousands, and 
it were possible for him to obtain it by 
19 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


destroying his home, would he be excused ? 
And is not a constable’s sale arson in an- 
other way ? It is destroying a home, scat- 
tering to the four winds of Heaven articles 
necessary for even the humblest abode, 
and other possessions often held dear from 
associations, such as ornaments, pictures, 
and books that are, perhaps, gifts from a 
dead parent or husband ; things that no 
money could replace. And is life not also 
endangered by the excitement and misery 
that such a sale causes ? Slavery existed 
for a time and the debtor’s prison was 
once thought necessary. Now they are 
looked upon as barbarous. I hope to live 
to see the day when constables’ sales will be 
regarded in the same way and abolished.” 

“You are right, Mr. Takall,” exclaimed 
Mrs. Morgan. “ It is indeed barbarous to 
sell a person’s possessions when they are 
so unfortunate as to be unable to pay, for 


20 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


now in renting houses persons are obliged 
to waive even the three-hundred-dollar 
exemption law, so a landlord can take 
everything. But,” continued Mrs. Mor- 
gan, “ how in the world did you come to 
think of so novel a charity ?” 

Do not call it charity,” he replied. “ It 
is simply showing humanity. Man’s in- 
humanity to man makes many of our 
charities necessary. How I came to think 
of renting my houses only to persons who 
were not so fortunately placed as to be 
above the possibility of getting into diffi- 
culties is a long story. But I will tell it to 
you if you care to hear it. 

“ First, however, I will answer your hus- 
band’s question as to how much I have 
lost by my plan of renting. I have been 
a large property owner now for over 
twelve years. During that time I have 
gained, over and above the income derived 
21 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


from the rentals, exactly five thousand 
seven hundred dollars/’ 

The three listeners looked at him in- 
credulously, and he continued : 

'' I do not mean to say I have not lost 
through some persons, but what I gained 
has covered what I lost, and has given me 
the above-named profit. For instance : 

*T rented a house to a young couple 
and they paid me for a while promptly, 
then the husband was taken ill and they 
were unable to meet their rent. They 
lived in the house for over two years, rent 
free, when the poor fellow died, and the 
young widow went home to her own 
people. That money I lost. 

‘T also lost six months’ rent through 
another party, a year and some months 
through another, and so on. 

“ Then I rented a house to a poor old 
teacher and her niece. The old lady was 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


no longer able to teach, and the interest 
on what she had saved during her long 
years of drudgery brought her only a 
very slender income. Her niece, a very 
delicate girl, had considerable ability with 
her pen. She wrote for different maga- 
zines and papers. When her articles 
were accepted they had not such a hard 
struggle, but at other times I fear their 
life was one of constant privation — which 
often means starvation. I chanced to 
know a good deal about them through a 
friend. At last, hearing that the young 
lady was ill, I wrote to her aunt and said, 
as long as the house they were renting of 
me was without some of the modern im- 
provements, such as electric gas-lighting, 
stationary tubs, etc., that I was unwilling 
to accept any rent from them until I made 
these improvements, and I was not ready 
to make them for some time.’' 


23 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


How kind that was of you/’ exclaimed 
Mrs. Morgan, regarding Mr. Takall with 
genuine admiration. 

“No,” he replied. “I pitied them and 
it deprived me of nothing I required. Do 
not think I am telling you this to show 
you what you consider my ,good deeds, 
but so as to explain how I have been the 
gainer. The poor old lady wrote me a 
most grateful note, saying, ‘She did not 
think it fair that I should receive nothing 
for such a comfortable home, but as her 
niece’s illness added to her expenses, she 
would accept my kindness of house-rent 
free for a while.’ The girl’s illness ter- 
minated fatally in less than a year. Her 
aunt was heart-broken and did not long 
survive her. Being without any other 
relative, she left her small savings of eight 
thousand dollars to me in ‘ consideration of 
the kindness I had shown her, and, if pos- 

24 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


sible, to insure me against any losses I 
might suffer in being kind to other ten- 
ants/ 

“Another man who went West, in my 
debt for three years’ rent, and whom I 
never expected to hear from, wrote me 
the other day that he had come into a for- 
tune left him by an uncle. He enclosed 
me a check, with interest, for his past in- 
debtedness, and five thousand besides in 
appreciation of my kindness. 

“Christmas-time the mince -pies and 
cakes I receive from my numerous tenants, 
I would like you to see them ! You must 
not tell what I do with some of them, for 
it might offend the senders. But as I have 
only one stomach, I cannot eat them all, so 
they just save me the expense of a dona- 
tion to two homes I always remember. 
One is for aged men and the other for 
widows and single women. 

4 25 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


“ The other Christmas presents I give 
are rather monotonous ; they are a re- 
ceipted bill to each tenant for the month 
of December. 

“And now/’ said Mr. Takall, rising and 
offering his arm to Mrs. Morgan, “ let me 
ask you out into the dining-room before I 
tell you how I came to be such a lenient 
landlord.” 

It was like going only from one paradise 
into another, for the dining-room was as 
charming as the drawing-room, only in a 
different way. 

Mrs. Morgan glanced around with de- 
light. Being of an artistic nature she 
keenly appreciated the display of taste and 
beauty. Then her eyes fastened themselves 
on a portrait, and she stood wrapt before 
it. Hanging as it did on the same side of 
the room as the entrance she had not 
caught sight of it until well into the room. 

26 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


“ Oh ! how lovely she is, and what a 
beautiful child she exclaimed. 

It was the portrait of a young and very 
handsome woman. Gray eyes, with long 
black lashes, gazed with a smiling expres- 
sion from the canvas, and the full but well- 
shaped lips looked ready to part and 
speak. The hair, that was rather loosely 
arranged, was of the shade that Titian 
loved to paint. 

The child, that could not have been 
more than three years of age, was a little 
beauty. He sat on the arm of the large 
cushioned chair in the most graceful atti- 
tude. One chubby little hand was rest- 
ing on his mother's shoulder, while her 
arm was around him, and the small feet, 
with short stockings and little slippers, 
were slightly crossed and rested against 
the folds of his mother’s satin gown in the 
most artistic manner. 

27 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


Something about the straight brows and 
full rounding chins of both mother and 
child reminded Mrs. Morgan of Mr. Takall, 
and she glanced involuntarily at him. 

As he met her rather questioning glance 
he answered : 

“That is a portrait of my sister and her 
child. Both are dead.’' 

He sighed slightly as he turned his 
glance to the corresponding place on the 
wall at the other side of the door, where 
hung the half-length portrait of a very 
striking-looking man. His hair and eyes 
were black and his features regular. The 
attitude was so real it seemed hard to be- 
lieve that he was not flesh and blood. He 
stood, palette and brushes in hand, as if 
he had just turned from his work to speak 
to some one. Both portraits were exe- 
cuted by a master-hand. 

28 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


Mrs. Morgan’s glance was now directed 
to this portrait. 

He was my sister’s husband,” con- 
tinued Mr. Takall, “and an artist of marked 
ability, as you see by these portraits he 
painted. But he did not live long enough 
to become famous, and, like many other 
men of genius, he died poor and in debt, 
leaving nothing for the support of his wife 
and child.” 

The large and handsomely carved ma- 
hogany table that stood in the centre of 
the dining-room looked as if it should have 
been the gathering-place of a large and 
happy family, instead of where a solitary 
bachelor took his meals. At present it 
was beautifully arranged. The brilliantly 
polished silver, sparkling cut-glass and ex- 
quisite china added to the daintiness of 
the refreshments, which consisted of deli- 


29 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


cious hot-house fruits of several varieties, 
cake, and wine. 

While partaking of the refreshments 
the conversation turned on travel. The 
room contained many ornaments and costly 
curios that had been collected in foreign 
lands, and which were admired and ex- 
amined by the visitors. They soon found 
that Mr. Takall had visited nearly every 
portion of the globe. 

‘‘You seem to care so much for home,'* 
exclaimed Mrs. Morgan, “that I had no 
idea you were such a traveller." 

He smiled sadly as he answered : 

“Although I am fond of travelling, 
under some circumstances, I might not 
have been such a wanderer, but it was 
after my home was broken up that I 
sought distraction in travel in order to 
save my mind. But the love of home 
is born in all the human race. I appre- 
30 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


ciate and sympathize from the bottom 
of my heart with those who are home- 
less. In every land and in every clime, 
from the highest to the lowest, from the 
palace of the king to the hovel of the serf, 
I have found that all have a love of home 
and hold their possession? dear, be they 
great or small. And now I will tell you 
how I came to be what I am called, ‘a 
curious landlord.' " 

He sighed, and his brows contracted an 
instant, as if in pain. Then he continued : 

“ I was not always wealthy — large means 
I have only possessed the past fourteen 
years, but I was comfortable. I held a 
good position, and was able without diffi- 
culty to meet my expenses. My father at 
his death had left little, and that little was 
settled on my only sister, my mother hav- 
ing died many years before. I was unable 
to buy a home, so we continued living in 
31 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


the house my father had rented. It was a 
comfortable one and furnished with many 
articles we greatly valued, for they had 
been in the family for several generations. 
My father left a valuable library, and this 
we highly prized. 

“When my sister married, she and her 
husband agreed that we would all live 
together. So her wedding presents and 
articles belonging to her husband that had 
adorned his bachelor apartments were 
also brought to beautify our home. It was 
a snug abode. 

“ A few happy years we were together, 
and then my brother-in-law died, and my 
sister and her child were left for me to 
support. Her husband had been unable 
to make any provision for her, and had 
lost the small amount she possessed in 
some unlucky speculation. 

“ Having no family of my own to sup- 
32 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


port, I was able to provide for my sister 
and her child, and for a time all went well. 
Then I was taken seriously ill. My em- 
ployer continued my salary for some weeks, 
and waited before engaging anyone else 
to fill my position, in the hope that I would 
be able to return to my duties. But when 
he found that if I recovered at all it 
would be months before I would be able 
to resume work, he was obliged to fill my 
place. 

“ Instead of getting better I grew worse, 
my recovery being retarded by the keen 
anxiety I felt over my business affairs, and 
the knowledge of the difficulty I would 
have in providing for those I loved if my 
ill-health continued. 

“At last the doctor said the only chance 
I had of regaining my health and of ever 
being able to work was in taking an entire 
change. He advised a sea voyage, I 
§ 33 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


could not afford it. We were already in 
arrears for rent, and the little I had laid 
by was being used for living expenses. I 
felt distracted. 

“ It was just at this time that a friend, 
who owned a yacht and knew what my 
doctor advised, came and begged me to 
accompany him on a trip in Southern 
waters. He said that if he were able he 
would assist me financially so as to relieve 
my mind, but at least to give him the 
pleasure of trying to restore my health. I 
felt loath to go. But my sister’s persua- 
sions, added to my friend’s, and also the 
knowledge that if I did not go I might 
either die or remain a helpless invalid, in- 
duced me to consent. 

“ Before leaving, I went to see our land- 
lord. I told him at the present time I was 
unable to meet my indebtedness, but that 
he should not be the loser. He promised 
34 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


to wait. I had, however, a strange feeling 
of uneasiness. Had I known the man’s 
true character I would never have trusted 
him. But being honorable myself, I was 
not on the lookout for deception in others, 
so I attributed my nervous fears to ill- 
health. If I had had any property of 
value to place in his hands as security I 
would have done so. But all I had was a 
few acres of unimproved Western land 
that was not considered of sufficient value 
to even cover what I already owed him. 
Being a keen business man, I knew he 
would refuse such security. By offering 
them I would be laying bare my entire 
financial condition. He would at once ask 
if I had nothing else to offer. So I thought 
it was best to keep him in ignorance of how 
desperately I was cornered. Not that I 
would defraud him of a dollar, but I wished 
to gain time. I knew if my health was 
35 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


restored I would soon be able to pay him, 
and if I died my life insurance would cover 
all my debts, and leave my sister a small 
amount besides. 

“At parting, however, I placed these 
securities in my sister’s hands, telling her 
in case of trouble over the rent, should he 
not keep his word, to offer them to him. 
I thought, perhaps, he might accept from 
a woman what he would refuse to take 
from a man. ‘At all events, if you have 
any trouble with him, write me at once.’ 

“We parted. Little did I think it would 
be never to meet again in this world. Sev- 
eral months passed. Gradually I gained 
health and strength. I was not entirely 
well, but I felt I would soon be able to take 
up the work of life again, and I looked for- 
ward with joy to returning home. During 
these months I heard from my sister regu- 
36 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


larly, for I always wrote and told her where 
our next stopping-place would be, and a 
letter always awaited me on my arrival, 
until we came to the last place but one that 
we intended visiting before turning our 
faecs homeward. 

“ It had been fully three weeks since I had 
last heard from her, for we had visited the 
Bermuda Islands and my friend had stayed 
there longer than he at first intended. So 
we were some days over time in arriving 
at our destination. 

“I therefore felt a strange uneasiness 
when they told me at the post-ofiice that 
there was no letter for me. My friend 
joked and told me my nerves were not yet 
in a healthy condition, that the letter must 
have miscarried, or not have been posted 
in time. We returned to our hotel, took 
dinner, and then I again went to the post- 
37 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


office, only to receive the same reply, ‘No 
letters.’ 

“ As I reached the hotel my friend stood 
on the steps waiting for me. 

“ ‘Jack,’ he said, ‘here is a telegram for 
you.’ 

“ I tore it open in nervous haste. It 
stated my sister was ill and asked me to 
return as soon as possible. We took the 
midnight train North. My friend insisted 
on accompanying me, leaving his yacht for 
his captain to bring home. Never will I 
forget that journey or the agony I endured 
when I reached my home. 

“ The hack stopped in front of the house. 
It was closed ; a sign of ‘ to rent ’ was 
upon it ; the remnants of a constable’s 
placard still adhered where it had been 
pasted. My head swam, the sight seemed 
to pass from my eyes. I believe I would 
38 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


have fallen if my friend had not quickly 
grasped my arm. 

“Then a next-door neighbor, who had 
evidently been watching for me, came 
quickly out to meet us, and said, ‘ Come 
into my hoase, your sister is here.' " 

Mr. Takall stopped as if unable to pro- 
ceed. His face had grown pale, he wiped 
the perspiration from his brow, and the 
look of agony which had come into his 
face seemed to have aged him. 

As Mrs. Morgan regarded him she 
thought he looked years older than the 
host who had greeted them but a short 
time before, and she exclaimed, with tears 
in her eyes : 

“ Oh ! Mr. Takall, I am so sorry I asked 
you to tell me what had made you so 
lenient to your tenants. I did not know it 
was so sad a story." 


39 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


“ Do not regret it,” he replied, gently. 
“ If the recital of it gains but one advocate 
who is willing to do all in his power to 
abolish this torture that is being perpe- 
trated under the guise of law, then my 
story will not have been told in vain.” 

He sighed deeply as he continued : 

“ Little by little they broke the dreadful 
news to me. Both my sister and her child 
were dead. Her little boy had been 
taken ill before the constable levied on 
our household goods. 

“ She wrote to the landlord begging 
him not to sell her out, telling him of her 
child’s illness, saying I would soon be 
home and able to pay him. And she of- 
fered him the securities I had left with her. 
He promised to accept them, but said ‘ he 
would still hold the lien on her things,’ 
and would write and make inquiry about 
the value of the securities she offered. 


40 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


“ He wrote, found they were considered 
of little value, and that he would gain 
more by the sale than by accepting them, 
so he pushed his claim. She had written 
to me, but the letter never reached me. 

“ When she found she could do nothing 
with the owner of the property, she begged 
and pleaded with the constable to wait, but 
he refused. Neighbors and friends tried 
to persuade him to postpone the sale ; but 
as they were unable to pay the amount 
owing, he refused to comply with their re- 
quest. He even insisted on going into the 
room where the sick child lay. It was this 
that killed my sister, for the doctor had 
told her to keep the boy perfectly quiet, and 
that he would go to the owner of the house 
and tell him the child was dangerously ill, 
and if he obliged him to be moved it might 
cause the child’s death, and he would then 
be responsible. 


41 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


“ My sister dropped dead while implor- 
ing the constable not to compel her to 
move her child, he was too ill. The little 
fellow died that night from grief and ex- 
haustion, for he called continually for his 
mother to come to him. He had never 
been parted from her, and he could not 
understand why, when he was in pain, she 
would not come to him.” 

Mr. Takall paused a moment, and in- 
voluntarily raised his eyes to the portrait 
of the two who had been so dear to him. 
As he did so the large greyhound jumped 
up from the rug and came and leaned his 
head against Mr. Takall’s knee and gazed 
at him with a mute, appealing look, as if he 
understood the conversation and would try 
and comfort him. 

''Just see,” exclaimed Mr. Takall, as he 
stroked the dog’s head, " the sympathy in 
his eyes. Yes ! I would sooner be a dumb 


42 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


brute than a human being without heart, 
without feeling for the suffering of others.’' 

His eyes flashed as he continued : 

“ Do you wonder that I cursed the two 
men who, for the sake of gain, had caused 
such misery to the ones I loved, and 
brought such agony and desolation upon 
me? I did. I prayed that God might 
visit retribution upon them — and I have 
lived to see my prayer answered. The 
landlord’s own home was burned while he 
was away for a few days on business, and 
his wife and only child perished in the 
flames. This occurred a little over a year 
after the murder of my sister and her 
child. Yes ! I call it murder. What be- 
fell the constable I will tell you of later. 

‘'For a while I felt half-crazed by my 
grief. Friends begged me to stay with 
them for a few months at least, but I re- 
fused, for I felt as if I could not inflict my 


43 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


miserable presence upon anyone. I rented 
a small room in a cheap lodging-house, took 
my meals when and where I pleased, and 
sometimes went without them. I sought 
for a position, for I knew I must get one 
if I was to exist. 

“ I wished to obtain a night position, so 
as to have my days free ; for a perfect 
mania took possession of me to follow that 
brute of a constable, to attend every sale 
I saw advertised that was going to be con- 
ducted by him ; to see with my own eyes 
the misery that is being perpetrated in a 
Christian land. Great God ! what agony 
I have seen. Many a time I have spent 
almost my last dollar and gone hungry 
that I might use the money to relieve, in 
some measure, the distress I witnessed ; 
to purchase some needed or cherished 
article, or to pay for temporary quarters 
for those turned into the street. 


44 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


“Illness, even death, does not stop a 
constable from what he calls ‘ the discharge 
of his duty/ He is paid, so he does not 
care, and the more he is able to make out 
of a sale the better is he pleased. And 
as there are always those among the lower 
types of humanity who are ready to profit 
by the distress of others, he has no diffi- 
culty in getting plenty to come and buy 
things, often for a mere nothing compared 
with their actual value, and then resell them 
at a profit, in which the constable shares. 
Such people are the birds of prey of the 
human race. They care not for the misery, 
only for the gain. 

“I saw one woman crazed by a con- 
stable’s sale. When they began disposing 
of her goods, she commenced screaming 
and throwing around and breaking every- 
thing she could lay her hands on. Poor 


45 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


soul ! she never recovered, and to-day is 
an inmate of a lunatic asylum. 

Another woman was thrown into con- 
vulsions and died shortly afterward. 

“ I saw one poor man who had lost his 
position, and had a sick wife and young 
family, blow out his brains when he found 
he could not prevent the sale. He did it 
so quickly that no one could stop him. 
The misery of seeing his family homeless 
was more than he could endue. He was 
a man of marked ability, and had once 
been prosperous, but through an unfortu- 
nate combination of circumstances had 
lost heavily. If he had been given time 
and not pushed to the wall, I feel sure he 
would have been able to have paid every 
dollar he owed, and to-day might have 
been among the successful. The shock of 
his suicide killed his wife, so that the con- 
stable’s sale was responsible for two lives. 

46 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


“ But enough. I will not tell you more 
of the sad sights I witnessed, except the 
last sale I went to. It was at the house 
of two old women. One was a music- 
teacher, the other a seamstress. On ar- 
riving at the house it was closed, and a 
number of persons were standing outside 
waiting for admittance. After the con- 
stable had tried in vain to gain entrance 
by repeated rings at the bell, he entered 
through a side window. In the bed-room 
both old ladies lay, fully dressed, dead upon 
the bed. Pinned beside them was a note 
stating that they had taken poison, and 
hoped that God would forgive them. They 
were too old to do any hard work, and, as 
they would lose their piano and sewing- 
machine, their means of making even the 
barest living would be taken from them. 

'‘And to think the man who owned their 
home was wealthy and a church-member. 

47 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


The very next week after his inhumanity 
to them he gave five hundred dollars 
toward a home for aged women, and his 
name was in all the papers. He was 
spoken of ‘as a kind, generous philan- 
thropist, a true Christian, ever ready to do 
good/ ‘ Reputation is what men know of 
us ; character what God knows of us !’ 

“ I knew a clergyman,” continued Mr. 
Takall — “ he’s a bishop now — who when he 
read the lines in the prayer-book ‘ that all 
who profess and call themselves Christians, 
and, etc.,’ would always emphasize the word 
‘ profess,’ and pause as if he wished to give 
his listeners time to examine themselves 
and see if they were really what they pro- 
fessed to be. 

“The next constable’s sale I saw adver- 
tised I felt too ill to attend. My own 
sufferings and the constant misery I wit- 
nessed, and which I was powerless to 

48 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


relieve to any great extent, were com- 
mencing to tell upon me. 

About this time the friend I had trav- 
elled South with died and left me a small 
legacy. I determined to quit work and 
travel, to try to find distraction in foreign 
lands, amid strange scenes, for the desola- 
tion I experienced seemed to grow greater 
as time went on. 

“In less than a week I was ready to 
sail. Before starting, however, I wished 
to visit some old friends who lived a short 
distance from the city. I was standing 
waiting for my train, looking with indiffer- 
ence at the hurrying crowd, when suddenly 
I saw a stretcher lifted from the train that 
had just steamed into the station. I real- 
ized at once someone had been injured, for 
on the stretcher lay a form. I could not 
see whether it was a man or a woman, for 
the crowd became dense as soon as it was 


49 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


known that an accident had occurred. Then 
I caught the disjointed sentences of several 
men who were in advance of those who 
were carrying the stretcher. ‘ Served him 
right/ said one. T don’t pity him,’ said 
another. ‘ Retribution has overtaken him 
at last ; he can’t live ; it will be one devil 
less on earth,’ said a third. The crowd had 
brought the men to a halt alongside of me. 

‘ Who is injured ?’ I asked. 

“‘Oh! that brute of a constable,’ an- 
swered the last speaker. ‘ He tripped as 
he was hurrying to cross the track to catch 
the train at a station not more than ten 
miles from here ; fell and both his arms 
were cut off just below the elbow by a 
freight train.’ 

“ ‘ I guess,’ continued one of the other 
men, ‘ he was so blinded by passion he 
did not see the train coming. He had a 
pretty stiff time of it conducting a sale; 
50 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


had words with some of the neighbors 
who pitied the poor young woman, who 
was about to become a mother, and he 
got into a towering rage. She, poor thing, 
was taken into a neighbor’s house, and we 
were told she was dying when we came 
away. We live near; did not know them 
well, but did all in our power to induce the 
brute to postpone the sale. It was useless, 
because we had not the money to hand 
out. The poor young woman’s husband 
is a travelling salesman, and is sick in a dis- 
tant city. A young doctor on the train 
thinks he can save the constable’s life.’ 

“Just then we were asked to move to 
allow the men to pass who were carrying 
the stretcher. There, before me, pale and 
unconscious, with both arms bandaged, lay 
one of the only two beings I have ever 
cursed, and one of the only two for whose 
sufferings there awoke in my heart no 
51 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


answering pity. As I gazed at him for an 
instant as he was carried past me, I could 
not help thinking that his hand, at least, 
was powerless to ever ring the bell of 
misery again. 

But, as if to refute the thought that 
good would be accomplished by his death 
or helplessness, there came the words of 
one of the men who still stood near me. 

‘ Alas !’ he exclaimed (in answer to one of 
his companions who had said the world was 
well rid of such a brute), ‘ there are plenty 
of other devils ready to take his place and 
help torture people to death for pay !’ 

“The young doctor was able to save the 
man’s life. He is alive to-day, strong and 
well, but helpless. He is the inmate of a 
home for cripples, for his wife refused to 
take care of him.” 

Mr. Takall paused a moment and sighed 
deeply, then he continued : 

52 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


“I travelled abroad for over two years. 
Then as my funds were getting low, I 
thought it was time to return and work 
again. 

“ However, on landing, I found myself 
a millionaire. On the land my sister 
offered as security, and that had been 
considered worthless, there had been dis- 
covered some of the richest gold ore in the 
country. My prayers to be able to do 
good were answered, the power to relieve 
distress was mine. My fortune had come 
too late to give pleasure to those I loved 
or to prevent their misery, but not too late 
to help others in need of assistance. If 
one cannot have happiness of his own, the 
next best thing is to make some one else 
happy. In some measure one gets the re- 
flection of brightness, just as when we 
witness misery we cannot avoid the shadow 
that it casts. 


53 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


“A recent writer says, ‘The world is 
becoming more sensitive to suffering, more 
anxious to devise ways and means to pre- 
vent and relieve it.’ He remarks : ‘ Civil- 
ized man generally recognizes far more 
fully than he did even a century ago the 
inexpediency or the wickedness — as we 
may be pleased to regard it — of inflicting 
torture and wretchedness upon his fellow- 
man.’ 

“ If such is the case, constables’ sales 
will surely be abolished — but it will take 
time, for, as the same writer remarks : 
‘The beneficiaries of an existing wrong 
will always resent interference with the 
craft by which they get their gain. There 
will be no change unless the demand for 
it is strong enough to force the fist of 
selfishness to relax its grip.’ 

“I may not live to see the day,” said 
Mr. Takall, a little sadly, “ but I hope it is 

54 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


not far distant when it will not be legal to 
attach household goods or a man’s home, 
if he owns one, for any debt he may owe. 
If everything else is taken, let these, at 
least, remain. Many a drowning person 
has been saved by a solitary plank. In 
financial shipwreck, I say let homes and 
home surroundings remain as planks to 
enable those who have met with misfor- 
tune to gain a surer foundation. It will 
give them better strength and courage to 
struggle.” 

All had listened to Mr. Takall’s narra- 
tive with the greatest interest and sym- 
pathy. As he finished, Mrs. Morgan 
extended her hand and said with the 
deepest earnestness : 

“You have gained at least one champion 
for your cause in me.” 

“ I think you have gained three,” ex- 
claimed Mr. Morgan and Newton. 

55 


utra 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


“I will never,” continued Mrs. Morgan, 
“after what I have heard to-night, read 
the notice of a constable’s sale with indif- 
ference, but will endeavor to do all in my 
power to relieve the distress of those who 
are to suffer the death of their home.” 

“You could not have expressed it in a 
better way,” exclaimed Mr. Takall. “ Such 
a sale is indeed the death of a home.” 

“ But, I fear,” said Mrs. Morgan, rising, 
“we have been so interested in all you 
have told us that we have stayed far past 
your usual hour for retiring.” 

“ No,” replied Mr. Takall, with a smile, 
as he touched a small bell on the table, “ I 
never retire early. Trouble and sleep are 
not very good friends, and as the first has 
been my companion for a number of years, 
the other is only an uncertain guest.” 

While Mr. Takall was speaking his 
waiter entered, in answer to the bell, and 
56 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


handed him a most beautiful bunch of 
“American Beauty” roses. 

“These,” said Mr. Takall, “are from 
my hot-house. I ordered them cut for 
you.” 

“ Oh ! how lovely they are,” exclaimed 
Mrs. Morgan, with genuine delight. 

As he handed them to her, he re- 
marked : 

“I hope you forgive me for refusing 
you as a tenant.” 

•55: ❖ <55: si: ❖ ❖ 

It was rather a silent trio that walked 
home that night. The conversation of the 
evening had given each one a good deal 
to think about. Presently, however, the 
silence was broken by Newton, who 
turned to Morgan, and asked : 

“Say, old fellow, have you still doubts 
regarding our host’s sanity ?” 

8 57 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


“No,” he answered, gravely. “My 
doubts are set at rest. I wish more pos- 
sessed his humanity ; it would, indeed, be 
a different world.” 

“I think he is a dear, old angel,” ex- 
claimed Mrs. Morgan. “ I have quite lost 
my heart to him.” 

“I wonder,” continued Newton, “why 
the old codger has never married. Per- 
haps some evening he may enlighten us 
on the reason of his bachellorhood.” 

“I know why,” exclaimed Morgan, 
laughing. “It is because he did not 
meet Mrs. Morgan before I did.” 


58 


III. 


Many pleasant evenings Mr. and Mrs. 
Morgan spent with the lonely old man 
during their two years’ residence in B~ — 
Afterward they travelled abroad for over 
a year. On returning, they settled down 
in the old home they were about moving 
from when our story opened. 

Mrs. Morgan had been busy directing 
the unpacking and arrangement of numer- 
ous articles brought from abroad. The 
house was now in comparative order and 
the rooms commenced to look cheery and 
homelike. It was with a sigh of relief 
that she sank into one of the easy chairs 
in the drawing-room to rest. Picking up 
the evening paper that lay on the table 
near her, she turned it over with indiffer- 


59 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


ence until her eye caught the heading of 
one of the columns on the third page : 

‘‘A STRANGE WILL — Left by the 
LATE Mr. Takall, who was known far 
and wide as *The Curious Landlord;’ 
or, ‘ The Angel of B 

“ Being in the possession of all my 
faculties, I, John Takall, make now, in the 
sight of God, my last will and testament. 

“As I am without any relatives that 
affection or duty might make me desire or 
feel compelled to remember, I am entirely 
free to dispose of my estate as I wish. 

“‘We brought nothing into this world, 
and it is certain we can carry nothing out’ 
It would be well for us all to remember 
these lines, and do all the good in our 
power while living, and in contemplating 
the ending of ‘ this painful life,’ endeavor 
to dispose of our estate so as to relieve 
some of the misery of which the world is 
full. 

“I desire that all my just debts and 
funeral expenses be paid. 

“ I give and bequeath to my friend and 
lawyer, Mr. , my house and its be- 

6o 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 

longings, and fifty thousand dollars, on 
condition that he will do all in his power 
to have constables’ sales abolished ; and 
until he is successful in so doing, attend 
all such sales that are advertised to take 
place within a radius of fifty miles, and re- 
lieve the distress of those who are about 
to be so tortured from a fund I will leave 
in his hands for that purpose. 

“To each of my tenants I leave the 
house they are at the present time occupy- 
ing and a sufficient sum to cover taxes 
and repairs. I also direct that my execu- 
tors pay to each tenant the sum of three 
hundred dollars for contents of each house, 
so I can entail house and contents on their 
children and grand-children, or, if they 
have none, then on those to whom they 
would wish to will their possessions. The 
houses are not to be mortgaged under any 
circumstances. If the owners wish at any 
time to sell and move elsewhere, they can, 
provided the money derived from the sale 
of the property is used for the purchase 
of another home entailed in the same way. 
And the person buying the house of them 
must purchase it under the same condi- 
tions that it is left in my will. 

6i 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


“The income from the rest of my prop- 
erty that is not invested in real estate I 
leave as a fund to be devoted to helping 
persons in distress for rent, or to give 
those a start who have been sold out. 

“ My lawyer, above mentioned, and Mr. 
Edward Newton, I name as my executors. 

“John Takall. 

“Witnesses: Clark Justice; Amos Wright.” 

“ Codicil. — I give and bequeath to 
Mrs. Morgan’s little son, who reminds me 
of my deceased nephew, the sum of fifty 
thousand dollars. J. T.” 

So absorbed had Mrs. Morgan been in 
reading the will that she did not hear the 
doorbell ring, and looked up with sur- 
prise as the butler drew aside the portiere 
and announced Mr. Newton. 

After the first greeting was over and 
Newton had expressed his pleasure at 
their safe return, Mrs. Morgan said : 

“ I have just read Mr. TakalFs strange 
will. I did not know he was dead.” 


62 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


“Yes,” answered Newton, sadly, “he 
has gone to his account, or, rather, it 
would be better to say of him, to receive 

his reward. Yesterday I went up to B 

to attend the funeral and to be present at 
the reading of his will. On the envelope 
containing it he made the strange request 
that ‘ Home, Sweet Home,’ be sung by a 
well-trained choir at his funeral. Never 
have I heard it rendered so beautifully. 
Then followed the 242d hymn : 

“ ‘ Now the laborer’s task is o’er ; 

Now the battle day is past. 

Now upon the farther shore 
Lands the voyager at last. 

Father, in Thy gracious keeping. 

Leave we now Thy servant sleeping. 

“ ‘ There the tears of earth are dried j 
There its hidden things are clear ; 

There the work of life is tried 
By a juster Judge than here. 

Father, in Thy gracious keeping. 

Leave we now Thy servant sleeping.’ 

* * * -"e * * * 

“When the music ceased I do not think 

there was a dry eye in the church.” 

63 


A CURIOUS LANDLORD 


Many have been made happy by Mr. 
TakalFs generosity, but the kindly face of 



“ The Curious Landlord ” is 
the community of B . 


Seventeen Suicides in a Day. 


Paris, April ii, 1899. — Seventeen suicides were re- 
ported at the Prefecture of Police on Sunday, nearly all of 
which were due to poverty. Saturday was quarter-day, 
and many of the unfortunates, being unable to meet the 
demands of their landlords, in desperation resorted to 
asphyxiation by charcoal fumes. 


64 







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